You get a sense of community in small towns that you can't get anywhere else, especially if your family has lived there for generations. You're also much more likely to be closer to nature, which is healthy and nurturing.

But, I'd have to say I agree with ichbinsisyphos, and that I have most enjoyed living in small cities (between 50,000 and 500,000, I'd say)._________________Deja Moo: the feeling that you've heard this bull before

I was born an grew up on the outskirts of a 40k town and it almost drove me crazy, there is nothing to do but work and drink. 40k is already larger than what the non-city guys here propose.

Granted, all nature inside of Graz is parks or cultivated in other forms, but with ~200-300k people you can already have an excellent public transport system and everything you could ever want is within <30 minutes of everything. As the EU grows this now includes border towns in Slovenia too.

A house in rural areas has some advantages when you're older and I am considering it already, but I am still too traumatized from my youth experiences

You get a sense of community in small towns that you can't get anywhere else, especially if your family has lived there for generations. You're also much more likely to be closer to nature, which is healthy and nurturing.

But, I'd have to say I agree with ichbinsisyphos, and that I have most enjoyed living in small cities (between 50,000 and 500,000, I'd say).

yeah, that might be nice. Don't know. My parents were born in a country, immigrated to canada, where I born. My kids born in the UK. 2 generations in the same country would be an achievement for me.